Need Character feedback [3.5 & Faerun & long]

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Okay, this is a character I'll probably be playing in an IRC campaign set in Faerun, Archendale. (PvP Forumites participating in EldritchEvil's Campaing, please stop reading ) Aside from general comments, I'm looking specifically for knowledge on FR canon considering tieflings. This character doesn't exactly fit the lines set by "Races of Faerun", first because it doesn't mention any shar tieflings, and second because the physical aspects are off. But would this character make any sense in FR?

I mean, black eyes, darkredhair, a cluster of purplish scales and the mark of shar, could those be the result of a Shar-worshipping halfsuccubus getting wicked with an elven man? Is a sharworshipping halfsuccubus even possible? I think so because apparently Shar is a secretive ***** that has a softspot for outcasts, but I'd still like your opinion...

General Information:
Name: Amalith Rauko'Sereg
Race: Tiefling (elf/halfsuccubus mix)
Class: Apprentice Ranger 1 (will get full ranger bonusses on ECL2)
Gender: Female
Alignment: Neutral Good
Speed: 30 ft
Size: Medium
Diety: Tyr
Region: The Dalelands
Languages: Common, Elven, Gnome, Chondathan and Abyssal (the latter is dormant in her subconciousness, which could be "awoken" should the ancestry thing come actively in play.)

Abilityscores: (28 pointbuy, racial mods included)
Str 13 (+1)
Dex 16 (+3)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 16 (+3)
Wis 11 (+0)
Cha 10 (+0)

HP: 10
AC: 16 (also +1 from dodge)
Initiative: +3 (from dex)

Saves:
Fortitude 3
Reflex 3
Will 0

Skills: (ranks, stats and misc included)
Bluff 2
Climb 5
Hide 9
Listen 4
Move Silently 7
Knowledge Nature 7
Ride 7
Search 7
Spot 4
Survival 4

Feats:
Dodge

Proficiencies
Weapons: Simple and Martial
Armor: Light
Shield: All but towershield

Special:
Resistances: Fire, Cold and Electricity 5
Darkness: 1/day as a sorcerer of equal character level
Darkvision: 60 ft
Outsider: Native
Favoured Enemy: Outsider, Evil

Inventory:
Studded Leather
Masterwork Longbow (Regional Equipment)
Shortspear
Shortsword
Quiver with Arrows (20)
Horn
Backpack
- Waterskin
- Ration
- Bedroll
- Sack
- Flint and steel
- Money (6 GP)

Background:
Before you stands what seems a female elf. Judging by the color of her clothes, which are mostly shades of green and brown, she's a ranger. The arrowfeathers that are sticking out of the quiver on her back are colored a bright red, the only bright color in her entire outfit. She carries a longbow as well as a shortspear. A shortsword also hangs at her left hip, clearly a backup weapon. At her right side hangs a bull's horn, carved with elven runes. It's strange that a ranger, a person who relies on stealth and silence, carries such an item. When asked about it, she holds the horn carefully in her hands and informs you that it was a gift from her father. She pauses shortly before "father" and utters the word with a mixed sound of grief and acceptance. Amalith has black eyes and dark red hair, which is uncommon for an elf. There are more things that make you doubt she's an elf, but you can't quite seem to put your finger on it. She introduces herself as Amalith. When asked from where she is, she shrugs and says "from around".

Amalith fled her hometown (a small settlement north of Ashabenfort) after her entire family and town was slaughtered by a halfdemon of sorts. Judging by the mark she and her kin bear, it must've been a minion of Shar. From what she heard later, people think it was her ancestor who for some reason unknown to Amalith wanted to wipe out all traces of its blood and those close to it. Her parents hid her under their bed when the demon came for them. They were slain in the attack, felled easily by the monster’s vile claws, but Amalith was apparently overlooked by the demon. The young las fled from the burning village, into the wild. For several weeks she lived there, living of nature. When she was found by a couple of rangers, they took her back home, to see if there was some relative still alive who could take care of her.

There were few survivors of Amalith's hometown, but there is one who she remembers still. Like a nightmare that continues to haunt her. The human hunter named Leny'raz. (A rather loud, simple man, though with a cunning mind when it comes to hunting things. He speak solely common and Chondathan) He was out of town during the attack and returned to smouldering ashes after a trip to Ashabenford. Like many of the townsmen, Leny'raz had no knowledge of there being tieflings in his hometown. (The townsfolk are rather simple farmers and hunters, living off the land. Those of them who knew the meaning of the familyname apparently didn't pay it much mind, as tieflings aren't all that uncommon. The whole village usually has a "judge by their actions" sort of stance.) After inquiring a bit he found out, and it didn't take him long to place the blame in the Rauko'Sereg family's shoes. Luckily for Amalith, the rangers who took her back protected her from the mad with grief human. He rallied what little townsmen were left and made an attempt at ending her life. If it wasn't for the rangers, they surely would've succeeded. As they rode off with Amalith they heard Leny'raz's maddened screams for revenge, swearing he would hunt her down to avenge his wife and kids.

They trained her and taught her the way of rangers. Her being a tiefling mattered little to them, on the contrary, they admired her for her fast reflexes and cunning mind. The elven ranger Allidar took on the role of her father. After having completed her training as a ranger she eventually got the approvement of Allidar. (who is a stern but just man) As a sign of her reaching the amount of skill required to venture out alone, he gave her a longbow. One of high quality, which nearly every ranger in the woods of Cormanthor bear. Also, she received from him a more personal gift, a horn carved with elven runes. He told her that "sounding it will instill fear in the hearts of her foes and give hope to her allies, both because of knowing that Amalith the Ranger had arrived." They parted ways shortly after that, but kept in touch. She and Allidar still go on hunts together occasionally, especially boar. Allidar taught her the joys of eating boarmeat that has been roasted over a fire. The very thought of it makes her hungry. Though of course to maintain the natural balance, they shouldn't hunt boar too much. A running joke between Amalith and Allidar is the consequence of this, each blaming the other for the drop in numbers of boars in the western parts of the forest of Cormanthor.

She swore her allegiance to Tyr, the just god. She did this because the group of rangers she trained with were all followers of Tyr. It's the way she grew up after the first years of childhood. In the woods, Amalith is Judge, Jury and Executioner. She is quick of judgement as well as on dealing out punishment. Amalith planned to spend her first years as a ranger by hunting down demons and the like. These "evil outsiders" are the cause of torment to many innocents, innocents she identifies herself with.

Amalith is a cheerful woman, though she takes the law very seriously. In lawless areas, that's mostly the law of Good. This causes a problem in areas with questionable laws, and because of that Amalith tries to avoid such areas when possible. It's always the question wether she should abide the local law, or go by what she feels would be right and just. She lives her life like a regular elf, even though she isn't one. In most aspects she considers herself an elf, for that part of her heritage is the largest. She feels most comfortable at night though, the light of the moon and stars appeal to her more than the bright light of the sun. She bears it easily though. Complete darkness is something Amalith fears a bit. When there is no light from the moon, she relies on her darkvision, but for some reason this sends shivers down her spine, eminating from the mark on her shoulder.

As of late though, the woods of Cormanthor are no longer safe to her, as Leny'raz has engaged in persuing her with incredible zeal. He has rallied with him a small band of townsmen and other folk that are prejudiced against tieflings. Trying to disrupt her life in any way possible, they are a great pain in the proverbial ass. While this saddens her, she can't blame them. Instead she blames her ancestor. But she knows nothing of him, nor his origin.
She befriended a small settlement of gnomes after helping them deal with a wild bear that terrorized their village. As a thanks, the gnomes taught her their language. She spent several weeks amongst the gnomes, and quickly grew accustomed to their love for pranks. A love she shares now. Leny'raz learned of their friendship and spread the rumor of invading the village in an attempt to lure her out. Luckily she found a couple of other rangers who were more than willing to help out the gnomes and look after their wellbeing for a while. After that last close encounter with Leny'raz, Amalith decided that it'd be best she left the woods of Cormanthor. Staying one step ahead of Leny'raz and his band is no longer enough, there are innocent lives at stake in this hunt now. She had to leave, to prevent those from getting hurt.

Sidenotes / Future plans:
- Should at some point her heritage and the Shar thing become more known to her and something she's going to actively pursue, I'm thinking of having her take up Selune as Patron instead of Tyr.
- For those really observant (or just those staring at her breasts ) they can make out small scales just below her neck. They're hard to spot though, as they're the same color as her skin. There's also a slightly faded mark of Shar on the back of her leftshoulder, where the scales are most visible and a colored a faint purple. They run from the base of her neck to her upper left arm and halfway down her back. This clearly marks her as a tiefling descended from a minion of Shar, but judging by the faintness of the scales and the mark, her demon blood has been mixed with a lot of elvish. She tries to hide the mark as well as possible though.
- Amalith has no knowledge of the origin of the mark and doesn't know it comes from Shar. She does know it has something to do with her ancestor, but she hasn't bothered to have someone check it out. Partially out of fear for prejudice, partially because the mark doesn't bother her.
- Her full name is Amalith Rauko'Sereg, but her last name she hardly ever uses, as it's elvish for Demon Blood. This would hint at her heritage too strongly. This wasn't much of a problem back home, but when hunted, it's not wise.
- She will be cautious around the partymembers in the beginning, not trusting them too much until they've earned her trust. This out of fear for them leading Leny’raz to her.
- Amalith tries to keep her race unknown from strangers, trying to pass as an elf, as a result from being hunted by her formerly fellow townsmen. The less people know of her, the less they can tell Leny'raz.

[ January 18, 2004, 22:23: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Nice char, Faragon. I could check out the details about the deities and races if you wish, but a friend of mine has my books.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean with 'shar tieflings', though.
Can't remember if Abyssal creatures/Demons do worship deities. Always thought that demons and devils were trying to get mortals away from the gods. I might mix up devils with demons now...

A demon trying to hide something from others (which might be the case if he's killing all of his offspring) could have something to do with the Goddess of Secrets/Darkness, iyam.

Sharworshipping halfsuccubus possible? It's mortal and adviced to have a patron deity, but again: I don't know how Abyssal (and Infernal) are related with deities/worship.

Btw: You are NOT gonna add some mage-levels and turn her in an Arcane Archer, are you? Her Int and 'I-am-a-female-worshipping-Selune'-fact might be a nice reason, but you would not be Faragon if you did. It wouldn't be... you!

 

My quick thoughts: a pretty original character, although in my opinion, Intelligence needs to take a hit, and Wisdom a boost, unless you intend to multiclass into Rogue or something. Oh, and the Dodge feat doesn't give you +1 to AC, but +1 to AC versus one enemy, so technically it's not in a stats block.

The scales are a nice touch, although I don't see how having a Succubus parent gives you scales. But since Ta'anari are Chaotic Outsiders, it's okay, I guess. Maybe Amalith has a Marilith great-grandmother?

I don't really know what to make of the history or goals, since I'm not very good with FR.

 

Seems nice, but there are some bits that seems strange to me:

Tyrianite rangers. Just strange. I know not all rangers are Chaotic Good, but still

Neutral Good Tyrianite. Valid, but quite strange. He's so fixated on laws, so strict and stringent.

Seems quite Lawful.

That's why I refuse to play Tyrianite paladins

Sorry, I couldn't resist

 

Okay, first of all, thanks for the replies

MoN: I am definetely not going to turn her into an Arcane Archer This one is going for full ranger, as far as I'm concerned.
btw, She isn't worshipping Selune just yet. She grew up amongst Tyrrans, and took him as her patron as a result of that. Selune is one of the future-possibilities

Oaz: I know I kinda screwed up on the Wis part, I realized that later. However, I want her to be pretty intelligent, not just for the skills, but also because that's how I envision her.

I know Dodge is +1 AC versus one designated foe, I didn't write that out correctly. I was doubting the scales being possible as well. I had little to no knowledge of tieflings/demons when I created her, so I blame my ignorance of that. I'm now trying to find a way to justify those scales Would a Marilith work? I looked at the MM, but I can't tell wether a Marilith has scales...

Chev: Yeah, Tyrran Rangers... I have the same doubts. This is a leftover from my original characterconcept. She takes the law seriously from a "good" point of view. That made me not make her lawful. I'm pretty sure she'll break some "evil" laws in the future, which is why I picked Tyr, because that would offer some nice roleplaying I think I could change her patron still, but I'm not sure which diety to pick else. (Selune is a given, but I want to save that for later)

 

You can still be considered "pretty intelligent" (heck, you'd be way above average with a 14, and still pretty smart with a 12) without a 16 INT stat.

Wisdom is much more important to a Ranger. My advice is to bump it to at least 13 (for spells).

IMHO, Dodge isn't a great feat, unless you plan on persuing the dodge/mobility/ect. feat chain. If you're not going with any chain of feats, Improved Initiative is probably your best bet. Come to think of it, Dodge isn't a bad feat either, when considering that Rangers only wear light armor.

Are you planning on taking the archery or the two weapon fighting path? Your initial feat might be a good way to get a jump on this concept as well. For instance, if you want to go with archery, the archery feat path does not offer "Weapon Focus: Longbow" which is a feat you'll most definitely appreciate having (IDHTBIFOM, but I'd take "Rapid Shot" if it isn't in the chain as well).

Awesome character concept. My above comments are only number-crunching.

 

If you take Dodge, go for Shot on the Run. Goes well with Manyshot (since Rapid Shot requires a full-round action to use).

 

Actually Tyr says uphold until you change, which leads to a struggle between breaking an evil law and Falling and upholding an evil law and Falling

But if you're planning to move on to Selune, it could be a good idea to keep Tyr for now. Later on, she would find herself in a dispute with Tyr, lose her powers and get them reinstated by Selune - as long as rangers in your setting get spells from gods.

Heh, IMHO Helm is more LG than Tyr. Tyr is Lawful Chaotic, hehe.

 

@Klorox: The wisdom required for spells I can boost on levels 4 and 8, so I'll get acces to the higher level spells in time anyway. I found the amount of extra skillpoints gained in lower levels more important than having the wisdom to cast spells which won't be available till many levels later.

Mhmm... Improved Initiative (usually my first pick with any character, but seeing how she already had +3...) would indeed be a good feat to pick, but I wanted something that would improve her AC a bit, hence dodge. (AC17 still ain't much, but combined with an untrained expertise I could boost it to as much as 19) I'm going for archery, but I know that if I go full out on that, I'll be fubar as soon as something gets close. I'd like to prevent her from being a onetrick pony, and go for a little more versatility. Hence dodge. (combined with a shortspear, hehehe) I would've picked WeaponFocus Longbow if I would've met the requirements. (+1 BAB)

@Oaz: Suggestion noted. Sounds like a good idea

@Chevalier: Rangers in Forgotten Realms get their spells from dieties, in Amalith's case from Tyr. Should she fall, Selune could take her up as one of rangers. And she'd be definetely be breaking an evil law rather than following it

 

Ah, but there's an exception. Laws that well-visibly don't fit the legal traditions of a nation aren't binding for Tyrianites. For good or bad, whatever that means, hehe.

 

Well, actually if you want to be very strict about the rules, it says in the FR Faiths and Pantheons that rangers and Druids MUST choose a naturedeity to be granted spells... Ie. Mielikki, Silvanus, Gwaeron, Corellon, and so on... But I wouldn't take it so seriously, rules are meant to be broken...

 

Really? The FRCS just states that they need to choose a patron diety to acquire the divine spellcasting ability. Faith and Pantheons be damned then

 

For 3E, I believe they might have some useful info in Defenders of Faith. When I was last reading it, there were bits such as what classes of divine casters in what temples.